Penance
by pezenchanted
Summary: A Season 3 Re-write. While in hell, Buffy finds a familiar face. Angel.
1. Chapter One

Buffy couldn't believe her eyes. Lily had pushed Ken off that balcony, at first she thought he was dead, but he wasn't. It took her a few seconds to get over the surprise of seeing Lily be so brave. All Buffy could do was give her a small smile, then go back to what she was doing ... trying to get them all out of there. Buffy didn't know how she would do it. Guards were surrounding them everywhere, and she didn't exactly know where she was in this place, or where the exit was ... if there was an exit. So they ran, as fast as they could, Buffy yelling to the other girls to follow her out. They would find a way out. Buffy knew they would.  
  
So they ran, but got stuck at a gate before the exit. Buffy remembered it. It lead to the apartment that Ken was staying at, in his human form. She quickly ran to the gate, trying her hardest to pull it up so the girls could get through. Eventually, she had it up enough so all of them could pass, but without warning, somebody grabbed her from behind, pulling her back into hell. Lily was the last one out. She glanced at Buffy, sadness on her face, "Buffy!"  
  
"Go!" Buffy yelled to her, "Don't worry about me!"   
  
"I can't leave you here..."  
  
"Go..." She repeated, being held behind by someone, although she didn't know who.  
  
Lily gave her one last glance before saying a short thank you, and jumping up to the portal above her head, and into Ken's apartment with the rest of the girls. Lily turned around and looked at the portal as it turned into glass. She jumped down on it, punching it as hard as she could, trying to get an opening for the time Buffy did escape. But she couldn't break it. Buffy saw the portal crystallize before her eyes, and then saw Lily's shadow above it, trying desperately to break it open. Then the scene went black as she was hit with a blunt object, and set unconscious in her cell.  
  
***  
  
A few hours had passed and Buffy finally awoke, finding herself lying on the ground. She reached up and touched her head in pain and winced. She glanced at her hand, covered in blood. "I hate when they hit me..." She grumbled, sitting up slightly. She noticed a man sitting on a cot across from her, staring in her direction. "I was beginning to wonder when you would wake up..." He said, standing. "You put on quite a show out there ... most fun we've had in weeks ... actually."  
  
Buffy stared up at Ken angrily, "Why are you doing this to me?"  
  
"Why am I doing this to you... Because you asked for it... Anne." He walks over to her slowly and kneels, "You wanted a way out of the world... I gave it to you. Why are you not happy?"  
  
"Happy? You really expect me to--"   
  
Ken put a finger to her lips, "Shh.. Be quiet. Just listen." He pulled his finger away from her mouth and sat down on the floor next to her. He glanced up at two guards at the door of the cell, "Don't try anything. The minute you do..." He gives Buffy the neck slashing motion and looks to her, "Get the picture?"  
  
Buffy nodded, "Talk."  
  
"I know who you are. I know where you're from... I know your destiny."  
  
"Yeah? So what?"  
  
"Buffy Summers... Sunnydale California ... the so called Slayer... We sure picked the right girl, didn't we?"  
  
Buffy sighs, "So you know who I am... do you think I care?"  
  
"You will once you know what we're going to do with you..."  
  
"And what are you going to do with me?" Buffy said, somewhat sarcastically.  
  
"As we heard... A new slayer can't be called unless the old slayer is dead... Keeping you here until your natural death would keep the world unprotected..."  
  
"Wrong."  
  
"Oh?"   
  
Buffy sighed, remembering Kendra's death. She glanced down at the ground.  
  
"Ohh.." Ken said, reading her mind. "There were two of you? Now the other's dead... and another will be called. I see... I guess we'll have to find her too, and bring her here."  
  
"And what about after we die? Are you going to track down every slayer and bring her here? And what about this hell time thing... As I recall you said 100 years would pass here and then only a day on earth... A new slayer every day pretty much, did you think of that?"  
  
"Hmm.." Ken pondered for a moment. "Yeah, I did. I happen to have a few couple hundred places on earth that would gladly take you into holding while you live out your life and die..."  
  
"So you're sending me back up there..."   
  
"Eventually... but not quite.. I want a few years of work from you first. I have to get something out of this, you know."  
  
"Plus.. There is someone I'd like you to meet."   
  
"Oh? Who?" Now Buffy was just getting angry, she didn't care anymore.  
  
"Just a guy who has been here for a long time... I think you know him." He turned around and smiled slightly at her.  
  
Buffy's eyes went wide, realizing who was here. She knew he was here... She felt him the whole time. "That's right... your beloved... how.... Sweet. You'll see him eventually... Doesn't mean he'll talk to you. He's not quite the talker these days. He was the day he came in though. Swearing under his breath about you... about how you sent him here, and how he would get revenge on you..."  
  
Buffy gulped, "Revenge?"   
  
"Yes... Revenge. Said the minute he got to see you he would kill you.." Ken walked to the door, "Of course, we won't let that happen. You've got a lot of work to do for us, Slayer."  
  
  
PART TWO:  
  
Buffy sat in her cell, curled up in a ball in the corner when she noticed them. The guards were transporting someone into another cell. The feelings inside Buffy were calling to her stronger now, and she ran to the front of the cell, watching the guards carefully. The man had a hood of some sort covering his face, but Buffy knew who it was. It was Angel, and she knew it. She glanced across the cell and noticed them putting him into the cell across from her, "What kind of games are they playing here?" She grumbled to herself, watching them push Angel into the cell in front of her. The guards closed the door behind him and left the two of them alone, unattended. She just watched the other cell carefully. He had not yet removed that hood from his face. Buffy had longed to see him again for what it seemed like forever...  
  
Angel sat down at the cot in the cell across from her. He moved very slowly. He pulled the hood down off of his face, and removed the cloak that was over his body. They told him they wanted to keep him covered until he was safe in his cell, although he didn't know why. He didn't understand much anymore. He felt more alone than anything. He hated being here. Who would like it in hell? That's when he felt it. He felt someone watching him. He turned his head slowly to look at the adjacent cell.  
  
Buffy caught his gaze and turned her head quickly. He saw her, she knew he saw her. She glanced back a few seconds later to still see him staring, a look of pain on his face that only she would understand. She was the only one who would ever understand. She found herself gazing in his eyes, maybe even asking forgiveness through them.... But his expression didn't change. It remained the same, and he still stared. A part of her was scared of him. After what Ken told her... He wanted to kill her.  
  
He didn't want to kill her. That was all a lie. Ken lied to her, and she didn't know it. He just wanted to scare Buffy, and it worked. Angel sat staring at Buffy for what it seemed like hours, but it was only minutes. She looked different... a lot different, actually. Pained, maybe. Of course she was in pain. She sent him to hell. She had to sit through the torture of sending her lover to hell to save the world. Deep down inside he understood... but it was so long that maybe he had forgotten a lot of it. There was so much anger deep down inside of him, anger that he sometimes couldn't bear, anger that he didn't understand.  
  
"Angel?" The words finally escaped her mouth. It ended the silence that had lasted since the guards had left them alone. But he say a word back to her, he just stared. Buffy wondered what was wrong with him. But she knew what was wrong with him. He was hurt! Of course he was hurt! She sent him to hell. Maybe he never truly understood... but maybe he did. Maybe he remembered himself as Angelus... But mainly, he was hurting because of the many years he was alone here in hell. Being tortured, working as a slave. She watched him, pained by the sad expression on his face. "Angel? Please... say something."  
  
He watched her longer, before the words came out of his mouth. "Buf..." He couldn't get it out, no matter how much he tried, her name would not pass his lips. It was as if he were forbidden to say her name by the powers that be. He tried for a few minutes than gave up, finally turning his head from Buffy.  
  
"I know you're angry with me." She spoke, watching him across the cell. "I don't blame you, really... I think if you had been the one who sent me to hell.. I would have been angry too... But... I had no choice. It was either let you stay and the whole world goes to hell... or let you go and save them all... I didn't know what to do, Angel." She sighs, turning away from him. "I'm sorry... I really am."  
  
Hours passed, and the two were asleep in their cots... both only having the other on their mind. Buffy was constantly thinking of what Angel could possibly be thinking of her, if he had it in his heart to forgive for what she had done to him. Angel just didn't know what to think. A part of him wanted to break down the bars in the middle of them and hug her, but another part wanted nothing to do with her. The beast in him. The part that was tortured for so many years, lacking compassion, lacking love. It had been so long, a part of him had forgotten what it was like, and didn't want it again.  
  
He sat up from his cot, looking over at Buffy who was sleeping on hers. He didn't want to wake her, but he thought he could talk now. "Buf--" He tried again, "Buffy?"  
  
Buffy opened to the sound of Angel's voice calling her, "Just a dream... only a dream..." She mumbled to herself, tossing and turning on her cot. The third time he calls she awakes and looks over at him, who is sitting at the bars of his cell, looking to her, calling her. She sat up quickly, moving the hair from her eyes. She slowly stood, walking toward the exit to the cell, and was stopped by the bars before her. She sat down at the end, maybe a feet or two in the middle of the two cells. "Angel?"  
  
Angel lashed a hand out at Buffy, grabbing her neck tight, pulling her hard into the bars in front of her. Banging her against them with all his might. Buffy screamed out in pain, "Angel... Angel..." Then she awoke from her daydream, to see him sitting in his place by the bars as she stood a few feet away. A part of her was crying out, hoping that he was Angel... and not Angelus.  
  
"Angel?" She was cautious, as to see if he was Angel. She had no idea how he might act toward her, and right now, she could only think the worst. Her daydream proved it. She slowly made her way down to the floor.. and to the bars before her.  
  
Angel sat in his cell, looking toward her. She was just as beautiful as he remembered... if not more. He reached out his hand.  
  
Buffy gasped and sat back quickly, then was relieved when his hand just opened up, waiting for her to place her hand in his. She found her place again, and reached her hand between the bars, placing her hand in his. She felt Angel placing something in her hands. When he let go, she pulled her hand away, and brought it back into the cell. She opened her hand slowly, revealing his clauddagh ring in her palm. She looked up at him, "Angel?"  
  
"I.. I missed you... Buffy.." He looked down, then back up at her again. "Every day... I.. I thought of you... I.. unders..tand.. what you had to do." He was still having a difficulty talking. For so many years he didn't say a word... Not talking to anyone due to the amount of pain that he was facing. "I.. I'm not... angry..."  
  
Buffy glanced down at the clauddagh ring in her palm, and placed it in her finger. "I missed you, Angel." She glanced up at him, "Every day I regretted all the things that led to this..."  
  
"I'm.. I'm sorry about all of this, Buffy. I had no idea that... what we did.. would cause this." Buffy leaned up against the bar, reaching out her hand to touch his face, "Shh... it's not your fault, Angel... it's not... you didn't know... Don't be sorry... You're back now..."  
  
"What are we going to do, Buffy?" He reached out his hand for hers, "I've already spent hundreds of years in here... and you... you'll die here if you don't get out."  
  
  
PART THREE:   
  
Angel awoke to hearing angry guards in his cell. "Get up, half-breed," they told him. He obliged. Of course he obliged. What else would he do? He sat up slowly, then stood to his feet, looking toward the guards. The guard behind Angel pushed him toward the front of the cell, where two chains were hanging from the ceiling. Angel looked up, a look of fear in his eyes, "No... not... not again."  
  
"Quiet." The guard in front of him grabbed him, chaining him up to the wall while the guard behind him pulled a few things out of a black leather bag. Angel knew what was coming. The torturing. He glanced over at Buffy's cell... She was standing there, just watching them, true pain expressed on her face. He noticed someone entering her cell, it was Ken.   
  
Ken opened Buffy's cell, accompanied by two guards behind him. "I suppose Angel thinks that he's going through a normal torture..."  
  
"Don't talk to me!" Buffy glares at Ken, focusing back on Angel.  
  
"Don't you want to know what we're going to do to him? Quite simple really... We've been keeping him around here all these years... For one purpose."  
  
"And what would that purpose be?"  
  
"You..."   
  
"Me? Yeah, well thanks for the gift, really!"  
  
"Child, you don't understand..." He sat down on Buffy's cot and continued to talk. "We've been waiting for this day. The day to get him out of his misery, and for you..." He smiles slightly.  
  
"You're going to.. kill him?"   
  
"Yes... He's no good to us now. He doesn't work... He doesn't talk. He's just another vampire to provide for, and that's not how we do things here. We expect to get work in return..."  
  
"How do you expect someone to work for you? Even I'm repulsed... I can't imagine someone being here for hundreds of years and like you."  
  
Ken stood up and walked over to Buffy, "You have a lot of nerve, Slayer. Talking to me like this?"  
  
"So do you." She turned and glared at him.   
  
"Fine... so be it... watch your lover die." He walked toward the door, "You'll be working tonight."  
  
Buffy turned her head, focusing on Angel in time to see the guard holding an axe, about to hit Angel's neck. "Angel! Watch out!" She screamed, "He's going to kill you!"  
  
A guard at the door came barging in Buffy's cell, knocking her out. He then left, leaving Buffy unconcious on the cell floor. She lay there on the floor for what it seem like hours, but it was only minutes. She could hear voices, voices in the background. Loud noises.  
  
"Buffy... Buffy...." She could hear the voices calling out to her. So familiar, but yet so far away. She opened her eyes slowly, to see Angel above her, in her cell. "How did yo..." She stops midsentence, holding her head in pain.  
  
"Thank you for warning me... Buffy..." He glanced over at his cell. The guards were dead. One, decapitated by the axe, and the other, hanging from the chains on the ceiling. "I guess I never had a reason to fight back."  
  
"We.. we have to get out of here." Buffy tried to stand, but fell back against the floor. "I'm.. dizzy..."  
  
Angel wrapped his arms around Buffy, picking her up like someone would a child. He cradled her in his arms, "I'll carry you."  
  
She looked up at him, smiling, "I love you, Angel."   
  
"I love you." He replied, kissing her forehead.   
  
"Com'n, lets go."  
  
Angel stood, carrying Buffy in his arms. He walked out the cell, wandering throughout the different rooms while looking for an exit. But he just found himself in the same place again. He glanced at Buffy a few times, to find her smiling up at him. The third time he looked, she was asleep in his arms. After becoming tired of walking, he took Buffy and sat down with her against a wall, behind something that would cover them from being seen by the guards, and Ken. She was still in his arms, asleep. A few minutes later, Angel found himself drifting off as well.  
  
A few moments later, he was awaken to Buffy's slight moans in her sleep. He glanced down at her, noticing her struggling in his arms, as if fighting something. He reached his hand out to her, "Buffy.... Buffy... wake up, Buffy." He took his hand and placed it against her face lightly, "Shh... Buffy... wake up.. it's just a dream... Shhh..." He leaned down and kissed her cheek.  
  
Buffy opened her eyes as she felt his cold lips on her cheek. She found herself gazing into his eyes like she had many times before when he was there to comfort her. Her eyes were locked on his. He was staring back.   
  
Without warning, Angel leaned down more, placing his lips on Buffy's. Buffy wrapped her arms around Angel's neck, now sitting on his lap. They kissed for what it seemed like an eternity to the both of them. They were so wrapped up in each other, what was around them had somehow faded away. That's how it always was for the two of them. One kiss could make every worry disappear.  
  
They had no idea that someone had been watching them the whole time they had been there. They were startled, and immediately stopped what they were doing when they heard a familiar voice. "Well... Don't go too far now, Kids. You wouldn't want to have that one moment of happiness again, would you?" Ken said, glancing at Angel. He turns to his guards from behind him, "Grab the girl."  
  
"No!" Angel stood, grabbing Buffy's hand. "I'm not leaving her."  
  
"Very well..." He glanced to the guards, "Get him, too."  
  
  
PART FOUR:   
  
Buffy and Angel hung inches apart from each other on the ceilings of what was a cell in 'hell'. Their arms were chained to the ceilings, their feet barely touching the floor. The two were extremely tired, hanging from the chains like ragdolls. Buffy had somehow found herself asleep there, even though she was standing up. Angel was alert, keeping his eyes open from anyone who might come near them.  
  
Ken came strutting into the cell the two were kept in, a smile on his face. He glanced down at Buffy who was still asleep. He reached out a hand to her chin and lifted up her head. Her eyes did not yet open. Ken pulled back his hand and slapped Buffy across the cheek, "Wake up!"  
  
"Leave her alone!" Angel growled, pulling at the chains to break free, but not getting anywhere.  
  
Buffy had awoken, a look of anger on her face. Nothing but anger. Her head still lowered, but eyes facing Ken. "You're going to pay for this."  
  
He looked to her with a small grin on her face, "Am I? Really... I seriously doubt that."  
  
In an instant, Buffy's feet went up leaping through the air, wrapping her legs around Ken's neck tightly.   
  
"Oh you will pay for this..." Her legs tightened around his neck, choking him.  
  
Ken yelled out in pain, "Guards! Guards!"   
  
Angel scoffed to himself, "Chicken."  
  
The guards came rushing into the room, watching the group. "Let him go..."  
  
"Don't come any closer." Buffy warned them, "I'll snap his neck like a toothpick. Unlock Angel or he dies."  
  
"Don't." Ken warned the guards. "Don't unlock him. She won't kill me. She can't."  
  
Buffy's legs wrapped around his neck tighter, "Oh are you sure about that?"  
  
Ken started to gasp for air as the guards quickly ran to Angel, unlocking his chains from the ceiling.   
  
Angel fell down to the ground, holding back a grin. "You guys are really stupid, aren't you?" He pushed them both against the cell bars, knocking them to the ground, unconcious. He looked toward Buffy, "Ready to get out of here?"  
  
"We'll find you." Ken says, in between gasps. "We know where you're headed... You won't get away with th--" He stops in midsentence, as Buffy snaps his neck, and he falls to the ground.  
  
"You gonna unlock me?" She looked toward Angel and smiled.  
  
Angel quickly went to one of the guards, taking his keys from his pocket. He studied the key-ring, filled with what it looked like hundreds of keys. "This ought to be a lot of fun."  
  
"He used that one on you." She pointed to a key on the ring and smiled at him. "Com'on, hurry. More guards are probably on their way."  
  
Angel quickly got the key and unlocked Buffy's chains. She fell to the ground and stood slowly, still kind of tired.  
  
He turned to her and grabbed her arm, "Can you walk?" She nods, "Yeah, lets go."  
  
Buffy and Angel run around 'hell' for what it seems like eternity, trying to find their way out. But they don't get anywhere. Wherever they go, they just end up where they started. The two of them get back there a third time, about to give up, when finally someone appears to them.  
  
"You try to find the way out, but all you do is end up where you began. You really think you're gonna find it? You're not. There is no way out of hell, no way to escape." Jenny stood there in front of them, watching the two closely, especially Angel. "Why are you trying to save him?"  
  
"Why-- Why are you HERE? I thought you would have been..."  
  
"In heaven." Jenny finished her sentence. "I wasn't sent here when I died. I have been sent here now to help you." She looks toward Buffy, "And you alone."  
  
"Meaning that I have to stay..." He looks toward Buffy. "You should go.. This is your only chance."  
  
Buffy watched Jenny carefully, "Why? You can't bend the rules? I'm not leaving him!"  
  
"And I'm not taking him out of here." She looked to Buffy, "Do you not remember what he did to me? Or did that heart get in the way of your job again? The powers that be have been watching you."  
  
"Powers that what?"   
  
"The powers that be?" Angel looked at Jenny closely, "They exist?"  
  
"Of course they exist, you fool. Who do you think sent Whistler to find you to help Buffy? Yeah, you sure did help her, didn't you?"  
  
"Stop it!" Angel growled.   
  
"No. I have the right. As of right now I have the right to do anything and everything to you as I please. You're not coming. You're staying here... where you belong." Jenny stepped up to Angel closely, "You're nothing but a cruel animal. And those animals deserve nothing more than to be punished."   
  
"But it wasn't him!" Buffy spoke up.  
  
Jenny turned to Buffy and glared, "You have no room to talk, slayer. If it wasn't for you so many more people would have been alive right now... but no. You two had to get pelvic.. and now look where we are. Don't you see? Everything that is happening right now is because of you.. and you alone."  
  
Buffy scoffed, "If you want to get technical... who's fault this is... yours... Janna. And your people. Gypsies? They did this to him. And it is because of them. And maybe if you had told us... What we could do that would make him evil again... If you wanna talk about who's at fault here.. who to blame.. I blame you. You betrayed us. You lied to us. You had the chance to tell us about this curse... and you didn't."   
  
"You think I didn't want to? Every day I wished I could but--"  
  
"But what? You were sworn to secrecy?"   
  
"Actually, yes."  
  
"Well guess what, the secret killed you. If you had only told us... you'd still be alive... and Giles.. he would still be happy."  
  
"Giles isn't happy?"  
  
"You think he was happy to see you die? It broke his heart."  
  
"Giles..." Angel spoke up, leaning against the wall. "I... I can't go back, Buffy.. He.. I.. I hurt him. He won't accept me.. and either will your friends. I can't go."  
  
"Would you rather not be accepted or die and be tortured here alone, Angel?"  
  
"Being up there seeing him and them would torture me more than anything down here could." He turns to Buffy, "I'm sorry. I can't... not until..."  
  
Jenny speaks, "You won't get forgiveness from him. You'll NEVER get forgiveness from him."  
  
Buffy turns to Jenny and snaps, "Shut up." She turns back to Angel, "Angel, please... you have to come with me."  
  
Angel shakes his head and turns away, "I can't..."  
  
  
PART FIVE:  
  
"Please, Angel... " Buffy stood in front of Angel, reaching her hands out to touch his. "You can't stay here... You have to come with me... Angel..." Then the tears started. She had lost him once, and she wasn't ready to lose him again. Not so soon. "Please..."  
  
Behind the two, were some sort of portal. Like the one that pulled Angel into hell. From behind the two, it seemed exactly like the scene when Buffy sent him to hell. Her arms were wrapped around him now, and she was holding on with all her might. "I can't lose you again... Please..."  
  
"I can't, Buffy."  
  
"I want you to be with me..." She looked at Angel, through her tears.  
  
Angel reached up and wiped the tears from her eyes,   
  
"I don't think I could face them..."  
  
"You.. You don't have to. They don't have to know you're back... We.. We could hide you... For now... and later when we think the time is right.."  
  
"The timing will never be right, Buffy... Never. I don't think they'll ever be able to forgive me for what I did."  
  
"It wasn't you, Angel... It wasn't you..." Buffy turned away from him, the tears coming stronger now. "Losing you again would kill me..."  
  
"Buffy..." Angel reached out to her, and she spun around, looking directly into his eyes. "You don't understand, Buffy..."  
  
"What don't I understand? Don't you understand? I don't want to leave you again... I don't want to lose you..."  
  
"And I don't want to be without you, Buffy... But... I have to--"  
  
"No!" She snapped at him, grabbing his hand, "You don't have to stay here. You know you don't have to." She closed her eyes for a a moment in attempt to stop the tears from flowing.  
  
Angel took her hand, "Alright."   
  
Buffy's eyes opened, "You'll come back with me?"  
  
Angel nodded and squeezed her hand, "Yes..."   
  
Buffy wrapped her arms around Angel tightly, "Thank you... Thank you." She looked back toward the portal, "We need to go..."  
  
Angel sighed and walked with Buffy toward the portal, their hands in each others. He looked toward Buffy. They were in front of the portal now. Angel closed his eyes for a moment, and with one instant, he let go of Buffy's hand, and pushed her into the portal. He backed away slowly, still in hell.  
  
Buffy turned back and looked at him, now inside the portal, screaming, "Angel! No! You can't leave me! Please!" She reached her hand out to him, "Com'on, please, Angel... please.. please.. please..."  
  
And then the portal swallowed her, throwing her back into her reality. 


	2. Chapter Two

The portal threw her to the ground. She looked up at the dark sky. It was now raining. She was in some sort of park, all alone. She knelt down to the ground, crying. "Why...." She sobbed to herself, arms wrapped around her shoulders to keep warm. She rocked herself slightly, in tears. She stood slowly, looking up at the sky, screaming.. "Jenny! Jenny! Where are you!" The tears were coming on stronger now. She stood there for a few minutes, just staring up at the sky, but no one came to her. She looked down, and then took of running down the street, no idea where she was, but she knew where she was going.  
  
She ran through the rainy streets, occasionally wiping the tears from her eyes, or moving the wet hair from her face. She ran through an alley, glancing up, recognizing something familiar. She jumped up on a ladder leading to an apartment above the alley. She quickly climbed the ladder, and with her fist, broke the window to the apartment and jumped in.  
  
There she was, in Ken's apartment. Below the window was the portal that was crystallized before her eyes when Lily had escaped with her help. She jumped down on it, looking around for something, anything. She grabbed a chair from nearby and broke it against the wall. Holding one of it's legs like a baseball bat, she began to hit the portal with all her might, trying anything to break it. "Angel!" She screamed, trying as much as she could to get somewhere. But she couldn't get anywhere. Not even a crack. Nothing. After about ten minutes of trying, she fell to the ground in tears, "Why..." She sobbed for what it seemed like hours, until she was interrupted when someone ran into the room.  
  
Lily stood there at the door for a moment, watching Buffy. "Buffy?" She approached Buffy slowly, then knelt down to the floor where Buffy was, sobbing. "Buffy..." She reached out a hand to her, but she did not move. She just lay there, hand on the portal, wondering what else she could do to break it open.   
  
"Buffy?" Lily repeated again, "What's wrong?"  
  
But Buffy wouldn't speak.  
  
***  
  
Buffy laid asleep on her bed in her apartment, the blanket wrapped around her. Her hair was still soaked from the rain. Lily sat on the edge of the bed, wondering what to do. Buffy wouldn't speak, she wouldn't even eat. For a while Buffy had spent the time just staring off at the wall, not even blinking.  
  
Lily was extremely worried about Buffy. She didn't know what she could do to help her. She didn't understand why she was so upset.  
  
Lily stood from the bed, looking around the room for anything. She noticed Buffy's bag lying on the floor against the wall. She knelt down to the ground and opened it, looking through it. She came across an address book of Buffy's. She flipped through it quickly. Giles... Harris... Rosenberg... Summers. That was it! Summers... it had to be Buffy's house. She knew her mom had to be worried about her. Maybe Buffy didn't want to speak to her though, she didn't know. But if it helped her in the long run, she would do anything. She picked up the book and walked into the other room, where the phone was lying on the floor on top of a box in the corner. She picked up the reciever, and dialed the number quickly.  
  
****  
  
Joyce was lying in her bed, reading a book when the phone rang. She glanced over at the clock next to the bed. It was past midnight. "Who would be calling this late?" She sighed then set the book down on the bed and picked up the phone slowly. "Hello?" She listened for a few minutes, and look of happiness spread over her face, "Buffy? She's... she's okay... " She paused, listening more and spoke once more. She grabbed a pen off the table, then scrbbled something onto the cover of her book, lacking a peice of paper. "I'll be there tonight. Thank you, Lily."  
  
**  
  
"Are you sure she said this address?" Giles asked, looking up at the tall building above the city street, "It looks abandoned."  
  
Joyce looked down at the book in her hands where the address was scribbled, "Yes, it says it right here."  
  
Willow, Xander, and Oz jumped out of the back of Joyce's jeep, looking up at the building. Xander was the first to comment.  
  
"The Buffster has been staying here? Wow... Just when I thought she had taste."   
  
"Taste?" Willow looks to him, "Since when do you know about taste?"  
  
"Since when did you turn into Cordelia?" Xander smiles at Willow.  
  
"I can't believe we finally found her." Willow said, changing the subject.. "It seems like forever since we last saw her..."  
  
"It's probably been even longer for her." Giles said, turning to them. "We need to get inside... see how she's doing."  
  
The group entered the building, starting in a big long hallway, not really that bad looking, but not that good either. A cockroach made its way across the floor, and Joyce jumped. "She's been living.. here?" A look of sadness crossed her face, "It's all my fault..."  
  
"No, it's not anyone's fault." Giles said, making his way up the stairs, leading the group. "She just needed some time to get over what happened."  
  
"What did happen?" Willow asked, following Joyce and Giles. "I mean, none of us really know. Only her..." "Maybe she'll finally give us some answers."  
  
They stood before a door on the second floor, Giles in the lead. He had his hand ready to knock, "Everyone ready?"  
  
"Ready as we'll ever be." Xander spoke, watching the door.  
  
Giles knocked quietly, waiting for someone to answer the door. A few moments later, the door opened, and there stood Lily, arms crossed over her chest. She looked at the group, tired. "She's.. she's in here..."  
  
The group followed Lily into the room Buffy was asleep in. Joyce was the first to see her... and immediately she ran to the bed, sitting on it's edge, looking at Buffy. She turned to Lily, "What's wrong with her?"  
  
"I don't know... She hasn't talked.. since..."  
  
"Since what?"  
  
"Since we went to hell..."  
  
"I beg your pardon?" Giles looked over at Lily curiously, "Hell?"  
  
Lily nodded, "She... she saved me... This man.. he tricked me... told me my boyfriend was with him... And I was taken to this hell... place... Buffy... She saved me... and a bunch of other young people who were down there. Well we got out.. and she.. she didn't. He caught her. Took her back there. I didn't know what to do... I couldn't get her out... And then.. On my way out I heard something break from inside the room the portal was in.. The portal he pushed me into, into hell.. So I went back into the room, and I saw Buffy. She was lying there... on the floor... sobbing... She wouldn't speak." She glanced down at Buffy, "Thats when I brought her back here... She's been asleep since around midnight... And then I called you." She looked to Joyce. "I didn't know if you would be there... I found a book of numbers, and I called what I thought was hers..."  
  
Joyce looked up at Lily, "You did the right thing. We've been looking for her since she left... We've been so worried about her." She focuses back on Buffy. "Nothing has been the same since she left..." She placed her hand on Buffy's shoulder and shook her slowly, "Buffy? Buffy.."  
  
Buffy opened her eyes slowly, looking up at Joyce. Her eyes questioned, but nothing came out of her mouth. She mouthed, "Mom?" But the word never did come past her lips. She glanced around the room, noticing Giles, Willow, Xander and Oz behind her mother. She sat up slowly, her cheeks still stained with tears.  
  
"Hey Buff." Xander was the first of the gang to speak.  
  
"Hi Buffy..." "Hi Buffy..." "Hello Buffy." The words just seamed to float around the room, until Buffy focused her attention back to Lily who was leaning against the wall, watching them all.  
  
"I had to call her." Lily said to Buffy, "I'm sorry... I just think you need them right now."  
  
"Yeah, Buffy.. how long were you going to stay away?" Xander said, from behind Giles. But Buffy said nothing back, which made Xander a little angry. "I think we deserve atleast an explination."  
  
Buffy just sat there, staring at all of them, still quiet. She looked down at the sheets on the bed, sighing.  
  
"Com'on Buffy.. You need to explain to us just what happened to you. Or do you not want to talk about Angel?"  
  
Buffy looked up at Xander, glaring, "Shut up!"  
  
"Well at least we know someone didn't steal her voicebox."  
  
"Why don't you leave me alone." She looks to all of them, "I was happier without you guys here.. Now go!"  
  
Willow looked over at Buffy, "Happier? HERE?! You don't look very happy to me!"  
  
Oz took Willow's hand, "Willow... calm down..."  
  
"I will not calm down! Listen Buffy! You can't just bail out on us like that!"  
  
"But you have no idea what I went through!"  
  
"Do you have any idea what WE went through? We've spent the summer patroling, and trying to take over what you were doing before you left. Okay, we're not very good at it... but still, Buffy!"  
  
Buffy stood up from the bed, glaring at Willow. "You have NO right to talk to me like that, Willow!"  
  
"Oh I think we all have the right to say what we want to. After what you put us through..."  
  
Lily moved from the wall and stood out, "I.. I don't belong in this.." She slipped out the door silently, as the group faught. Not even sure if they heard her.  
  
Xander looked up as Lily spoke and left, deciding to follow her out.  
  
"Oh you're just going to leave now!" Buffy snapped at Xander as he headed toward the door.  
  
Xander turned and looked at Buffy sadly, "You told me to leave you alone." He slowly walked out the door, slamming it behind him.  
  
"See what you did, Buffy!" Willow spoke, coming a little closer to Buffy.  
  
"What I did? It was your decision to come here!"  
  
"We were worried about you!"  
  
"I don't want you to worry about me!"  
  
"Well fine, we just won't worry anymore. Is that what you want? For us to just stop caring? We can't do that!" She walked toward the door, "Or atleast I won't." She left the room, again with a slam.  
  
Oz looked at the group, "Umm.. You know me.. .I have to go... follow." He walked out of the room, following Willow.  
  
Buffy looked around the room at the two remaining visitors. She looked down at the ground, sadly. "I..."  
  
"You're what?" Joyce stood from the bed, looking at Buffy. "Sorry?"  
  
"Well, Yes..."  
  
"You should be... After what you did to us..."  
  
"Bloody hell..." Giles groaned and came closer between the two, "I am tired of hearing everyone blame Buffy for the pain they went through this summer..."  
  
"But it is because of her!"  
  
"Did you ever think of what she might have went through? What could have drove her to this?"  
  
Buffy looked at Giles, admiring him in a way, for sticking up for her. She turned to Joyce... "You told me... If I left.. I couldn't come back."  
  
"I was scared, Buffy! You just told me you were some sort of superhero, and expected me to just nod my head saying 'yes i understand', No!"  
  
"And you think I wasn't scared? Can you imagine being told that you are the only person in the world that could stop something from happening.. that the future of the world was on your shoulders... that if you didn't do this one thing right, the world as we know it would be sucked into hell... and your ex-boyfriend was the one behind the show?" She looked to Joyce seriously, "I don't think you'll ever understand, Mom!"  
  
"I want to, Buffy. If you would just talk to me... Tell me whats going on in your life... You hid this from me for two years!"  
  
"Why did you think I did that, mom? Cause I knew you would freak out! When I first found out it scared the crap out of me, and I don't think you would be the one to like knowing that instead of hanging out with her friends, she has to go save the world on a nightly basis! You've seen the bruises! What did you think they were from?"  
  
"I thought you were fighting again, and I was just scared..."  
  
"Scared of what? That I would get kicked out of school again? Well guess what, I was, again! And you know what is to blame... my destiny! I wish I could be a normal girl.. with a normal life, but that isn't possible! That will NEVER be possible!"  
  
"Buffy..." Giles approached Buffy slowly, "We need to know what happened to you... We won't understand this until you tell us what happened."  
  
"Please, Buffy." Joyce looked to her.  
  
"It's a long story..." She sat down at the bed, looking up at the two of them. "You sure you want to know?"  
  
"Of course we're sure." Joyce sat down at the edge of the bed, while Giles stood up by the window.  
  
"Well... do you know what happened before the last time they saw me?" Buffy turned to Joyce.  
  
"Yes... Mr. Giles explained everything."  
  
"Alright... I'll tell you what happened." She sighed, looking up at the two of them, not sure if she had the power to tell them. "When Xander came and got Giles, I was stuck there with Angel... We fought... and..."  
  
****  
  
"...the portal opened... which would send Angel into hell if she didn't do something." Giles stood before the group outside the apartment, trying to explain what happened to Buffy. "She told me your spell worked, Willow. At the last minute, it worked... But since the portal was already open... She had no choice but to kill him... and send him into hell. But that isn't all... After she was here, she helped Lily escape hell. Lily explained this to you. Buffy helped her escape... but Buffy was taken back in by someone. Now this is what Buffy didn't tell you..." She looked toward Lily, who was with the group, then looked back at them all. "She found Angel there... And the two of them found a way to get out... Another portal, which would send them back here, to our reality."  
  
"So Angel is back here, alive?" Xander interupted.  
  
Giles shook his head, "Let me finish. He didn't come back with her. He was so scared of what we would think of him for what he did when he was evil... He told Buffy he was going to go back with her... So she would go. She wouldn't go without him. But he tricked her. At the last moment he pushed her through the portal. And she couldn't come back to get him. He's still down there..."  
  
"He stayed because of us?" Willow looked to Giles, "That's..."  
  
"Good." Xander said, looking at them all. "I don't know about you all, but I'm glad he's down there. I'll tell you again. I don't like him. I never have. And if you all are going to forgive him for what he did to Miss Calendar..."  
  
"It wasn't his fault, Xandrer." Willow spoke up, "He wasn't himself."  
  
"Well I don't care. I won't forgive him for what he did. I never will." He looked to Giles, "And I don't know how you can either."  
  
"Maybe a part of me won't ever forgive him. And I'll still have that memory of him killing her. But one thing you have to remember, Xander, is Willow's right. It wasn't him."  
  
"But it was his fault all of this happened."  
  
"No, it wasn't." Buffy said, from the doorway, behind them. "It wasn't either of our faults. He didn't know what doing that would do to him..."  
  
"Doing that..." Xander scoffed, "Doing that changed all of our lives Buffy."  
  
"I know, and I'm sorry for that. Do you think I don't regret that? I would have never done it if I had known..."  
  
"Yeah, sure you wouldn't have. I really doubt that."  
  
Willow stood, looking at Xander angrily, "Will you just shut up! Alright?! We're not here to judge her for what she did, or what she could have done differently to change everything. The important thing is that we have her back. And we know she's alright. And if you forget why we came in the first place, maybe you shouldn't have come."  
  
"I didn't forget why we came." Xander said back to her, "We came back to get Buffy... And we did."  
  
Joyce came out of the doorway behind Buffy, "Will you come back with us?"  
  
"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Buffy asked Lily, standing in front of the apartment complex. "We have a spare room at the house... I'm sure mom wouldn't mind."  
  
"No no... you go." Lily smiled, "Strangely, I feel like I belong here."  
  
"Well you know where to reach me if you ever change your mind."  
  
"Thank you, Buffy."  
  
"You're welcome..."  
  
Lily leaned over and gave Buffy a hug, "I mean it... I don't think I would have gotten out of there without you."  
  
Buffy smiled, "Take Care, Lily."  
  
"Bye, Buffy..." She looked to the group at the car, "Bye guys."  
  
They all waved to her and got into the car. Buffy was the last to get in. She said goodbye again, and got into the car with the gang. A few seconds later, they drove off, on their way back to Sunnydale.  
  
******  
  
The first few days back in Sunnydale were rough for Buffy. Having to settle back in with Joyce at the house, talking with her friends again. It felt akward. Like at any moment they expected her just to run off again. Joyce was always on her case, asking where she was going, giving her a certian time to be home. Although Buffy didn't blame her, she did want a little freedom. She knew she wasn't going to get it for a while. Not till Joyce could trust her again, although, she didn't know when that would be. She didn't even know if she would ever trust her again.  
  
Xander and Willow seemed to be at the house every day. They were all concerned about Buffy, after knowing what she went through while she was in Los Angeles. Even though Xander was still upset with Buffy, he was still her friend. He had to be there for her. He didn't agree with why she was upset, but did he ever agree when it came to Angel? No. He never did like him. But he knew Buffy didn't care what he thought when it came to that.  
  
The three were in Buffy's room, watching television, laying across Buffy's bed. Candy galore scattered all over the palace. But of course, most of it was on Xander's lap.  
  
Halfway through the movie, Willow turned toward Buffy with a sigh, "We could get him out."  
  
"Who? What?" Buffy turned to Willow, "What are you talking about?"  
  
"Hey." Xander spoke up, looking at the two disaprovingly, "I'm trying to watch the movie here."  
  
"Sorry." Buffy whispered, then turned back to Willow, still whispering. "What?"  
  
"I know there has to be a spell... Or something. I have looked through a lot of Giles' books... I've seen a few that could work."  
  
"A spell?" She looked to her, "Are you sure?"  
  
"Well... no. And I don't know if I could do it.. I'm still not a very powerful witch... but Giles can help me..."  
  
"You honestly think he would? After what Angel did to him?"  
  
*****  
  
"You two are out of your minds!" Giles yelled, looking at the two girls who were before him in his office. "I will not help you with this. I cannot. I can't believe you would even think of coming to me for help! You know what he did to me."  
  
"But, Giles..." Willow whined.  
  
"But what? Oh but Giles, he'll be stuck in hell for all eternity." He tried to mock Willow, then straitened up. "He belongs there. I won't help you."  
  
Xander appeared in the doorway, "And for once the G-man is right..."  
  
Giles glared at Xander.  
  
"Okay... Again, the G-man is right."  
  
"Please, Giles." Buffy looked toward him, "You're our only hope. We need to get him out of there."  
  
"No, you need to get him out of there, just so you can have your boyfriend back." Xander spoke up again. "Why don't you just leave Giles alone, hasn't he been through enough? First finding Miss Calendar dead..."  
  
Buffy approached him slowly, "That wasn't Angel."  
  
"Oh yeah, I forgot. It was Angelus, who was called because of your mistake. Getting groiny... breaking the curse, putting all of us in danger, but oh wait, we're in Buffy's world here.. who cares if we're in danger, as long as she's happ--"  
  
Buffy pulled her hand back, and slapped Xander across the face, hitting him with so much force he falls against the door of the office. "Shut up! Just shut up!" She ran out of the office and out of the library.  
  
Willow looks over at Xander, who was now holding his cheek. "Don't talk to me, Xander," She rushed out after Buffy.  
  
*****  
  
Buffy sat on the floor in the hall before the library doors, her head in her hands. She was staring strait down at the floor when Willow came out, running out of the library, but stopped when she saw Buffy.  
  
Willow slowly approached, and sat down next to Buffy on the floor. "We don't need Giles, you know... We.. We can try it on our own..."  
  
"It's a dangerous spell, Willow. We can't. We need Giles."  
  
"No. We can try. We might not suceed but if we do, Buffy..."  
  
"It will be worth it..."  
  
Willow nodded to her, "Why not just give it a try?"  
  
Principal Snyder stood in front of them, "Ahem." He looked toward Buffy, "You're not supposted to be here."  
  
"What? Why not? It's a free country..."  
  
Willow turns toward Buffy, "Oh.. that's what we forgot to tell--"  
  
"You're not allowed on campus anymore, Miss Summers. You better go."  
  
"Or else what?"  
  
"We'll get the cops out here... You're tresspassing."  
  
"Fine..." Buffy looked up at Willow and stood, "Okay... Lets do it."  
  
***  
  
Buffy sat before Willow on the floor of her room, "What do we have to do?"  
  
Willow glanced down at a book in her hands, trying desperately to translate the text. "I think I just say the words written here..."  
  
"Say the words? Oh, that's easy."  
  
Willow nodded, "Yeah, that's all I have to do."  
  
"Alright, lets do it."  
  
"O-okay, well...here I go," she focused on the words mentally replaying what she hoped they meant over in her head. "From the mortal coil of this world, do I summon the power to bring forth what was lost. And by this power to a smite onto the earth the being of pain and torment...in his true form. And let then it fester and set until brought forth again." Willow tentatively closed the book and let her gaze flit to Buffy who was now trembling. "Buffy?"  
  
Buffy's arms went to wrap around her waist and she cried out in pain. Slowly she sunk down to the floor, whimpering in pain. "Willow?"  
  
She dropped the book and went to put an arm around Buffy, hugging her closely. "Buffy, what's wrong?" She let out a mind-numbing scream and fell limp in Willow's arms. She panicked. "Buffy? Buffy, come on...don't...please wake up!" She quickly checked for a pulse and relaxed at finding it -- though it was sputtering at an insane rate. She gently laid her back on the floor and nabbed a pillow to put under her head. Then she ran for the phone, dialing the infamous 911 call.  
  
********  
  
"What happend, Willow?" Giles stood before Willow in the waiting room, watching her closely. "What happened to her?"  
  
"We... We were doing a spell..."  
  
"A spell? The spell I told you I wouldn't help you with?"  
  
"Y-- Yes... I thought I could do it... but.. It didn't work..."  
  
"This is exactly why I told you no Willow!" He glared at her, "The spell was way too dangerous, even for me. Now look what happened."  
  
"I'm... I'm sorry."  
  
"You should be, Willow. You really should be."  
  
The doctor entered the room slowly, "Is Mrs. Summers here?"  
  
"She's out of town on business... We're close friends of Buffy's," Giles spoke to the doctor, worried.  
  
"Well... Buffy is in acoma. We don't know if she's going to come out of it. It's very serious. We don't know how much longer she'll last... Maybe a week, If not days..."  
  
"A week?" Giles looked to the doctor, "A week? What exactly did happen to her, doctor?"  
  
"That's what we're trying to figure out." The doctor sighed, "The chemicals in her brain simultaneously were disturbed -- why we're not sure, but it caused an epileptic siezure of sorts.."  
  
"Are you sure you found her like this?" The doctor looked toward Willow, "You didn't see what happened to her?"  
  
"I.. I.. No.. I didn't see anything."  
  
The doctor looked at her suspiciously and sighed, "Alright. Well.. You can't see her yet, but we'll let you know when you can. We've still got a lot of tests to run."  
  
****  
  
"Why would you do the oposite of what Giles told you to do?" Xander asked Willow, from across a table in the hospital lounge. "I mean... You're not even a full-fledged witch..."  
  
"I.. I wanted to help her, and Giles wouldn't."  
  
"You should have known not to do it, Willow." Giles spoke up, "A spell like that could kill someone if it's not done correctly."   
  
"For example... Buffy." Cordy spoke up and sighed.  
  
"What language was this spell in?" Giles asked Willow, in all seriousness.  
  
"Gaelic."  
  
"You tried to translate Gaelic? Do you have any idea how complicated that language is? One letter in a word could make a world of difference if it were replaced. You could have said the wrong spell. Without a doubt, you probably did."  
  
"I didn't mean to."  
  
"Maybe you should give up the witch thing." Cordy looked toward Willow, trying in her own special way to help. "I mean, obviously it isn't working out very well."  
  
"Yeah, I think Cordy could do better than you could," Xander sighed.  
  
"Thank yo--" Cordelia couldn't finish her sentence, instead Willow interupted.  
  
"Will you just shut up, Xander."  
  
"No. I won't. Alright, you've put Buffy in serious danger. That's not something that we can just forgive."  
  
"But I didn't mean it!" Willow whined and laid her head down on the table.  
  
"Hey." Oz spoke up, sitting next to Willow. "Maybe you guys should just give it a rest, huh? She's been through alot too, you know."  
  
"Oh yeah, knowing that you're at fault for your best friend close to death." Xander sighed, "I'm sorry, I can't look at her anymore." He stood from the table and walked away toward a group of chairs.  
  
"I'm gunna go, too." Cordy spoke, then got up, following Xander.  
  
****  
  
"They don't understand..." Willow spoke, to Oz at a group of chairs somewhere away from the entire group.  
  
"Well, they do have a point."  
  
"What?" Willow looked up at Oz, somewhat hurt.  
  
"No no, Willow.. I understand how you wanted to help Buffy." He reached down and took her hand, "But you have to think about what they're going through right now. Knowing that what you did... did this to her."  
  
"But I didn't mean to." She said, for what it seememed like the hundredth time that night.  
  
"I know, I know. You were trying to help. But maybe you should have listened to Giles the first time..."  
  
"Who's side are you on here?"  
  
"Right now, I don't know, Willow. Don't get angry at me for this. You shouldn't. You need to understand what you did..."  
  
"I do understand. But it wasn't my fault... I was just trying to help."  
  
"Maybe right now what you need to do to make it up to them... find something that could help Buffy... get her out of this acoma. And don't do a spell... Just find one... for Giles..."  
  
"You think there would be one?"  
  
"There should be. There have been spells for everything else, haven't there?"  
  
"I'll look... I think I should go anyway, the hostility here is too much for me to handle... But could you..."  
  
"I'll talk to Xander." Oz said, knowing exactly what she was thinking.  
  
"Thank you." Willow wrapped her arms around him and gave him a hug, "I'll be back soon."  
  
"Alright." He kissed her cheek and let go of her.  
  
***  
  
"All I'm saying is that I think you should just give her a chance."  
  
"Give her a chance to what?"  
  
"Earn her redemption."  
  
"It's hurting her to know what she did. Put yourself in her shoes for a minute.. as hard it would be to like Angel..."  
  
"Yeah.."  
  
"Alright so your best friend is in love, and the only way you think she would be happy is if she can have that love again. You've got spell books, you know a few little spells. You're not ready for the big stuff, yet you think you might be able to help this friend." Oz sighs, "So you do the spell... and your friend gets hurt. Now all you want is to make it right again, because all of your friends are at your throat, and your best friend is close to death. How would you feel if you were feeling that, Xander?"  
  
Xander was silent for a moment, then he looked up at Oz with a sigh, "I guess you do have a point. I just wish she had thought about it before she did it... then we wouldn't be in this mess."  
  
"She just wanted to help Buffy. That's all. She didn't want to hurt her. And she wants you to see that."  
  
"I do. Maybe I shouldn't have been so hard on her, everyone makes mistakes. I'm just worried about Buffy."  
  
"I think we all are..."  
  
"Where is Willow anyway?"  
  
"At the library, looking for more spells.."  
  
"She's not gunna..."  
  
"No, no.. She's just going to try to find one for Giles."  
  
Xander gave a sigh of relief, "Good."  
  
***  
  
Willow sat in the stacks of the library, books scattered around the floor. She leaned against a shelf against the wall, a few books on her lap, and one in her hands. She flipped through the book quickly, then tossed it up. "I'm not getting anywhere..."  
  
She had no idea how far she had actually tossed the book. A few seconds later she heard someone scream out in pain, "Ow!" The book had hit someone in the library. Question was, who was in the library.  
  
Willow pushed the books off her lap, and stood slowly, looking between the stacks. She couldn't see anyone. She turned the corner and saw Xander standing there. "Xander."  
  
"Hey..." He said softly, holding a pile of books in his hands. "Need any help?"  
  
"Yeah..." Willow smiled slightly, "That would be great." 


	3. Chapter Three

It was the times like these that the gang had to stick together. At any moment they could lose Buffy. They wouldn't leave her side. Xander and Willow had been at the library for almost twelve hours now, and not a thing yet. While Giles, Cordelia, and Oz, stood watch at the hospital, trying to wait patiently, not knowing when they could see her. But Buffy, she was drifting further away as the hours passed...  
  
She was in acoma, her world nothing like the world she had been in before she went under. Everything was muddled, and different. Inside, she felt like nothing was wrong, but everything was different. She felt alive. But that's not exactly what she was. She had been dreaming since the moment she passed out. Dreams that she couldn't fully grasp the meaning of. She didn't understand them. But she knew they were prophetical.  
  
She slowly walked down a long coridor, it was a hall in the High School. She knew where she was. She made her way down the long hallway, and out a door to the outside. She glanced around the ground. It didn't quite hit her what was there, but finally it did. The ground was covered in a countless amount of bodies. They were scattered around the ground, some whole... some... not. Buffy looked down in horror as she made her way over to a small group of chairs. She couldn't believe her eyes. She covered her mouth with her hands to stop herself from screaming, and knelt down to the ground. It was Willow. Her eyes were wide open, a look of pure horror on her face. But she wasn't alive... She had been dead for quite some time now. Like those around her. Buffy reached a hand down to Willow, closing her eyes. She looked down at her friend in sadness. That's when she noticed it. A hand sticking out from under Willow. She glanced down, noticing a clauddagh ring on it's hand. She moved Willow over quickly, shocked to find what was underneath.  
  
It was her. She lay on the ground, again the same look on her face as Willow's. Buffy had to scream then. She let out a very loud and strong scream..  
  
"What's wrong with her?" Cordelia asked, standing to look at Buffy on the bed. "Why is she screaming like that?"  
  
Giles ran out of the room, screaming, "Doctor, Doctor! Please, come quick..."  
  
"We need to find a cure, quick." Giles said, watching Buffy closely. "Whatever is in her, I think it's killing her..."  
  
"What did you do to me?" A girl screamed, in front of Buffy. She had long, flowing brown hair, a look of anger was on her face. Buffy had no idea what the girl was talking about. She didn't understand.  
  
"What did I do to you?" Buffy replied, looking toward the girl. "I didn't do anything to you, I don't know you."  
  
"Oh thats fresh, B. You don't know me?" The girl moved in closer to Buffy, and pushed her against the wall with all her might. "Now I'm gunna give you one more chance to tell me... or I kill you. WHAT did you do to me?"  
  
"I... I didn't... do..."  
  
"Wrong answer." The girl removed a knife from her pocket, and held it out in front of Buffy's stomach. "You tell me... or I gut you."  
  
"I didn't do anything! I swear!"  
  
With one instant, the girl pulled back and thrusted the knife into Buffy's stomach. She grinned, "Well, that was fun, wasn't it? You should have told me what you did... I wouldn't have hurt you."  
  
Buffy looked down at the knife in her stomach, in horror. She swallowed hard and looked up at the girl. "I swear... I.. I didn't do, anything." Tears started to form in her eyes.  
  
"Since when did you become so... weak?" She chuckled and pulled the knife out of Buffy's stomach with one movement.  
  
Buffy fell to the ground in pain. She held onto her stomach, as the blood poured out. She leaned against the wall, crying in pain.  
  
The heart monitor began to beep estatically, as Buffy's pulse rate began to rise quickly. The doctors ran into the room quickly, ordering the group to get out of the room. They obliged, and stood out the door, watching through the window as the doctors went to work.  
  
"What's wrong with her?" Cordelia asked, looking through the window  
  
"She's going fast..." Gile said sadly, "You guys better hope they get her stable again... Or else we won't be able to do anything."  
  
"Isn't there like... a bring back to life spell?" Cordelia asked.  
  
Giles looks to Cordelia, angry. "Yes, but lets just hope we won't have to go that far, alright?! Bloody Hell..." He walks off down the hallway.  
  
"It was just a suggestion." Cordelia mumbled.  
  
Willow sighed and threw another book down onto the table, "I can't find anything, Xander. How about you?"  
  
Xander sighed, too, and set his book down. "Nothing. One of these days Giles should just put these all into a computer and... Oh wait... We're talking about Giles here."  
  
"Yeah, big Anti-Computer guy."  
  
"I'd rather have my book, some nice warm tea, and a bloody scone." Xander mocked, with a small laugh.  
  
Willow laughed with him.  
  
They both went silent when the library doors opened. It was Giles. They waved to him and stood.  
  
"Anything?" Giles asked, walking toward their table.  
  
Willow shook her head, "No, nothing yet, but we'll keep looking."  
  
"Try to hurry... Buffy is deeper in acoma now... They say if she doesn't wake up by tomorrow.. she's gone."  
  
"So now we have til tomorrow?"  
  
"No, We have until six am." Giles sighed, "They said they're gunna take her off the machines."  
  
"No! They can't do that!" Willow looked to Giles, angry. "Doesn't Mrs. Summers have to approve that?"  
  
Giles sighs, "She did. She came in tonight. Talked with the doctors. They explained the situation, and she gave the go."  
  
Willow looked down, sadly. "How could she do that?"  
  
"She doesn't know what we can do. I think if I didn't know either, I would be agreeing with her."  
  
"So lets just tell her."  
  
"No. Bad Idea. She's dealing with too much right now. We don't want to get her hopes up. If some chance the spell doesn't work... I don't think she could handle it."  
  
Giles took of his glasses and looked toward the two, "Just keep researching. I'll be here at five."  
  
The two nodded, "We'll keep at it."  
  
And they did keep at it, for what it seemed like hours. They had first started around 9pm that night. It was 1am now, they didn't know how much longer they could stay awake.  
  
"I'm gunna make a snack run." Xander said, standing up. "Do you want anything? Those chocolate donuts in the vending machines are calling my name..."  
  
"Oh, sure. Yeah. Just get me the same, and a Coke."  
  
"Alright. Donuts and Coke, coming up." He ran out the door.  
  
Xander ran out of the library quickly toward the vending matchines. He pulled out a pocket full of change and started filling the machine with quarters. He pressed a button for the donuts, but nothing came out. "Oh not now." He hit it, then kicked it, then shaked it. Still nothing. He sighed. "Figures." He looks into the machine, begging. "Com'on... The pizza places aren't open... I'm starving... and you look soooo good..."  
  
"Well isn't that bloody sweet." A voice said from behind, with a small, mocking tone.  
  
Xander turned around slowly and stared at Spike, "What do you want, Spike?"  
  
"I heard about the little gal. Wanted to see how she's doing... And I needed your opinion. White roses, or red?"  
  
"Excuse me..."  
  
"Sorry, Little vampire humor. Anyway. You have something I want... and as I've heard, I have something you want."  
  
"Not interested." Xander turned back to to the machine and started kicking it wildly.  
  
"Oh I think you might want to re-consider. I bet you've checked every book in that library for that cure... haven't you?"  
  
"Yeah? So what?"  
  
"Well you're not gunna find it."  
  
Xander turns around and stares blankly at Spike, "And why not?"  
  
Spike chuckles and pulls a small book out of his coat and waves it at Xander. "Because I have it..."  
  
Xander jumped toward Spike, trying to grab the book.  
  
But Spike was too quick, he put the book back into his coat and backed away. "Now now... You know I don't give freebies..."  
  
" Willing to listen?" Spike asked, impatiently.  
  
"So you'll give us the book if we do what for you?" Giles eyed Spike from across the hospital waiting room.  
  
"Theres this new badass vampire in town. Goes by the name of Seris. Before he came, those vampires out there worshipped me."  
  
"And you want them to worship you again?" Xander asked, sarcastically.  
  
"Of course. You've got to be bloody crazy to not want want to be worshipped."  
  
"So what do you want us to do, Spike?" Giles sighed.  
  
"Slay him. Kill him dead. I mean, you are the slayerettes! Why not go slay something..."  
  
"We can't slay him. We're not slayers. We'll get ourselves killed!"  
  
"Well I guess you'll have to figure something out, won't you?" He stood and looked around, "If you'll excuse me, I'm hungry. Only a few hours till the sun comes up, time to find some food."  
  
"So you're gunna kill someone?" Willow asked.  
  
"That's what us vampires do, you know?" Spike sighed. "I'm off."  
  
"Spike..." Giles stopped him, "Where can we find you?"  
  
"The mansion... I've got no where else to go. Might find myself a nice crypt later. I don't know. We'll see. I'll just find you." He walks off toward the exit of the hospital.  
  
Willow turned to Giles, "New Badass vampire? Badder than Spike? We can't take him, Giles. What are we gunna do?"  
  
Buffy shifted in her sleep, tossing and turning. Small groans passed her lips. She was dreaming. Again. The doctors had gotten her more stable than she was, but she was still drifting.   
  
She glanced around the room quickly, she really had no idea where she was now. She noticed a bed in the corner, where a girl sat. Buffy tried to speak to her, but nothing came out of her mouth. It was if the girl didn't even notice she was there. Maybe she wasn't there. She didn't know. She wasn't sure of anything anymore.  
  
The girl sat on the bed, holding her arm in pain. There was a small cut across her arm, right below a small tatoo around the top portion of her arm. Just a small design, Buffy couldn't tell what it was. She glanced up at the girl. It was the same girl who had stabbed her in an earlier dream. Buffy glanced down at her stomach. The shirt was covered in blood, yet there were no cuts beneath.  
  
The girl grabbed a phone off the table and dialed a number. She waited a moment, then finally spoke, "Hey. This is Faith. I uhh... I wanted to let you know that I'm in Sunnydale for a while... at a Motel on... some street... near the High School. Um.. So if the watcher's council needs me, this is where I'll be." She hung up the phone and sighed, wincing out in pain as she touched the cut on her arm again.  
  
"Faith..." Buffy said softly in her sleep, still shifting. The gang were back in the room, watching her closely. "Slayer.... Faith... Motel...School."  
  
"What?" Giles stood up and walked closer to Buffy, sitting down next to her on the bed, "What Buffy?"  
  
Buffy groaned out in pain as she tried to communicate to Giles. "What Buffy?" Giles stood before Buffy in the Library. "What about a slayer?"  
  
"I saw her..." Buffy said, "She... She hurt me..."  
  
"Hurt you? A slayer?"  
  
"In a dream... I ... I don't know the difference anymore. I don't know if this could be a dream..."  
  
"A dream? Buffy?" Giles looked down at her on the bed, "Speak to me, Buffy. Come on."  
  
"Theres...another. Like me..."  
  
"Like you?" Giles watched Buffy from across the library, "A slayer?"  
  
"Yes." Buffy nodded, "She's at a motel near the school. Her name is faith."  
  
"How do you know this?"  
  
"I... Dream..."  
  
"You drempt it?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"We'll go check it out, Buffy. We promise."  
  
"Thank... thank you."   
  
Giles stood before the door the motel clerk told him to go to. He stood there for what it seemed like forever, almost afraid to knock. Another slayer? Here? In Sunnydale? He wasn't sure he could believe it. But maybe Buffy was having one of her prophetic dreams. He hoped she was. They could use another slayer right now. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door.  
  
Faith sighed and got up from the bed, after bandaging up her arm. She opened the door quickly, and looked out at Giles, "Uh.. Yeah? Can I help you?"  
  
"Is your name, Faith?"  
  
"How... How did you know that?"  
  
"Rupert Giles..." He didn't know where to begin.. What if she wasn't a slayer? Would he say "I'm a watcher, I need your help", blah blah. He wasn't sure. So he just went with it. "I'm a..."  
  
"A watcher?" Faith asked, somewhat intrigued.  
  
He nodded, "Yes... I am."  
  
"How did you know I was here?"  
  
"You might find this a little crazy..."  
  
"Nothing in this world is crazy anymore. After all I've seen... I think I would believe anything."  
  
"We.. we have a slayer here..."  
  
"Buffy Summers."  
  
"Yes, Yes. That's right. Well... there was an accident. And she's in acoma... She spoke of you in her dreams..."  
  
"She's been dreaming about me? Wow, aren't I the special one."  
  
"Yes... Well... You see, we need your help."  
  
"So this vampire wants to trade with you?" Faith asked, sitting on a chair against the hospital waiting room wall. "For the cure... you gotta slay someone for him?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Why doesn't he just do it himself?"  
  
"Well vampires don't really like to kill other vampires. Gives them a bad rep, I suppose." Giles says with a sigh, "Lets say he were to slay him himself... You think all those friends he had would be happy about that? They'd wanna do some major damage..."  
  
"So you'd rather me get put on the hitlist instead of the vamp..."  
  
"That's not what I'm saying. They're not likely to go after a slay--"  
  
"I'm in. Point me there, and I'll do it."  
  
"Wow." Xander watched Faith in awe.  
  
Cordelia punched Xander in the arm, "Watch it, Buddy."  
  
"Spike?" Giles entered the mansion, looking around. "Are you here?"  
  
"Don't tell me you've already done it..."  
  
"No.. No. You didn't tell us where this guy is."  
  
Faith appeared from behind Giles.  
  
"Well, Hello." Spike looked toward Faith, "Who are you?"  
  
"That's none of your business."  
  
"Ooh spunky one is she." Spike laughed slightly.  
  
"She's going to take care of your little problem."  
  
"And who is she?"  
  
"A slayer." Faith said, with a small angelic sarcastic smile.  
  
"Another one?"  
  
"Well you did kill Kendra, Spike." Giles sighs, "Another one was called."  
  
"Lets get on with it, shall we?" Faith spoke up, "I'm gettin antsy."  
  
"He said this is where we can find him..." Giles said, looking around. "Said he was staying in a crypt in the Restfield Cemetary..." He looks up at the sign, "Here we are."  
  
"You stay here..." Faith told Giles calmly, "Let me do this. Just stay here."  
  
"Okay." He sighed, "Please hurry, We've only got two hours before they pull Buffy off the plug."  
  
Faith nods, "Alright. Stay." She walked into the cemetary, taking a look around. She notices a small Crypt in the corner of the cemetary. She smiles slightly and walks toward it slowly. She opens the door, glancing inside. Spike was right. There he was. Sleeping like a baby on the floor. She entered very slowly, shutting the door behind her. Then, she spoke. "Hey!"  
  
Seris jumped up, angry to see someone in his crypt. "The food deliver now?"  
  
"Food?" Faith sighs, "Oh yeah, I'm your dinner. Come and get it."  
  
Seris charged at Faith, but she blocked him, throwing him against the wall. "Will you just stop fighting, I need to make a deal with you."  
  
"I don't make deals with slayers."  
  
Faith grabs a stake out of her pocket and pushes Seris against the wall, holding the stake up to his heart. "Either you listen, or you're dust."  
  
"Alright. I'm listening." He backed away from Faith, and against the wall.  
  
Faith leaned against the wall, "There's another slayer in town. I'm sure you've heard of her. Buffy Summers. She's in acoma... And her friends came to me for help. But in order to get the cure, we have to slay you."  
  
"Whoa whoa whoa." Seris backed away, "You're not slaying anyone."  
  
"You're right. I'm not. Which is why I need your help. You see... This town only has room enough for one slayer. And I want Buffy dead. Help me, you won't have to worry about her ever again. You don't... and you meet the sunrise."  
  
"What makes you think I'll help you?"  
  
"If you care anything about your life... well... death... er whatever. If you care about staying around, you'll do it."  
  
"And if I don't?"  
  
"My god, do you not get it? Sun light, poof, dust."  
  
"What do I have to do?"  
  
"Stay hidden for a while. I've got to make them believe you're dead."  
  
"How long?"  
  
"I'll come back and tell you when you can come out."  
  
"I'll need to eat."  
  
"Don't worry..." Faith headed toward the door, "I'll bring you her friends."  
  
Faith appeared before Giles at the entrance to the cemetary with a smile on her face, "That was way too easy."  
  
"He's dead?"  
  
"Well... Deader, if you're being technical. Nice pile of dust."  
  
Giles gives a sigh of relief, "Thank you, Faith. We owe you one." He walks off toward the direction of his car.  
  
Faith mumbles to herself, "You're right... You do."  
  
"What was that?" Giles turned around.  
  
"I asked, what would you like me to do."  
  
"Well we have to go get the cure from Spike now..."  
  
"Oh I can take care of that. Why don't you go check on Buffy?"  
  
"Good Idea. Thank you faith. Meet us at the hospital."  
  
Faith noddedd, "Sure thing."  
  
"Spike?" Faith entered the mansion slowly, "We did your job, where are you?"  
  
Spike entered the room slowly, holding the book in his hands. "They know about you." He looked to her with a grin on his face, "They know what you did. What you're planning. You really should watch your back... make sure no one's following you."  
  
"Oh you sniveling little bastard!" Faith screamed out at him.  
  
"Hey there, calm down little miss." Spike smiles, "I've made another deal with them."  
  
"Oh what now?"  
  
"You." He laughs slightly. "I get to have you... of course after I make you a vampire."  
  
"A Wha-- what?"  
  
"You heard me. A Vampire. A badass vampire, just like myself. I do need a new girl..."  
  
"In your dreams."  
  
"Theres no other way."  
  
"Yes there is, I'm out of here." She turned around and ran toward the door.  
  
The whole gang was there, watching her. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, Faith." Giles spoke from the door. "Spike?"  
  
Spike comes from behind Faith, grabbing her arms and pulling them behind her, "You said you had to do something to her first. What is it?"  
  
Willow pulls out a needle and a flask from her bag, "Lets just say, she won't be squirming for long."  
  
"What are you going to do to me?" Faith spoke out, squiriming in Spike's arms.  
  
Willow turned to Giles, "You sure about this?"  
  
Giles nods, "Yes... Get him back. For her."  
  
Willow approached Faith slowly, "So you're Faith. Nice to meet you." She smiles slightly, and pokes her arm with the needle, sending it's contents into Faith's body.  
  
Faith slumped down to the floor, like a ragdoll. She looked up at them, sweating, "What did you do to me!" She screamed again, "WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME!"  
  
"A trade." Willow looks down at her then up at the ceiling, "To those beasts, and and hounds in hell... I give you Faith, through this little spell. Not herself, nor her soul, But what makes her a slayer... what makes her whole. Take this now, and set him free. So bring him forth, so shall it be."  
  
Faith groaned out in pain on the floor as the words were spoken. A light hase circled around her, and Spike backed away from her slowly. She began to float into mid-air, her body twisting around, as she began to feel the effects from the spell. Her back arched, as a bolt of lightning came through the ceiling, hitting faith. And during that time, another portal appeared in the corner of the room, and there was Angel, thrown to the floor. And as the portal closed, Faith fell to the ground. The lightning stopped, the portals vanished, and the room was silent again.  
  
"You sure this will work?" Willow asked, looking toward Giles. They stood above Buffy's bed, holding another small flask in their hands.  
  
"It will... It will..."  
  
Willow looked over at Angel, who was on the other side of the bed, "Here." She handed him the flask. "You do it..."  
  
He took the flask from her and sat onto the bed, next to Buffy. He pulled up her head, and poured the contents of the flask into her mouth. "Com'on Buffy... drink... drink..."  
  
The warm liquid passed her lips, and she swallowed slowly.  
  
Giles glanced up at the clock, "Five Fifty Eight." He sighs, "Two minutes..."  
  
They all glance down at Buffy... Worried that she won't make it in time.  
  
Angel leans down and kisses her forehead, "Come on Buffy..."  
  
The minutes pass... '6:03', and the doctors enter the room with Joyce. "It's time."  
  
The gang moves out of the way, all praying that the spell will work. The doctor makes his way over to the machine, and just before he turns it off, Buffy's eyes open.  
  
"Buffy!" Willow cries out, rushing to the bed to her friend, "You're awake... You're awake..."  
  
Buffy smiled at her friend slightly, and looked behind her, shocked to see Angel. "Angel?"  
  
"Hi Buffy..." He smiled back at her.  
  
"How..."  
  
"Ask them..." Angel looked toward the group, then smiled at Buffy.  
  
"Thank you... all of you..." She smiled at them, as they all came together, gathered around her bed.  
  
"Faith, Love." Spike looks down at the girl on the floor and sighs, "You need to get up now. You've been down forever."  
  
Faith stood up slowly and tried to run out the door, but Spike grabbed her from behind. "You remember our deal don't you, my sweet?"  
  
"No, No... please, don't." She tried to fight back, but she was weak. No longer a slayer. She couldn't even fight.  
  
Spike wrapped his arms around her waist, and moved her hair from her neck. "It's time." He bit down into Faith's neck, and she screamed in horror. " 


	4. Chapter Four

"You ready?" Joyce stood in the doorway to Buffy's room at the hospital, holding a box in her hands. The box held all of the presents Buffy recieved while she was in the hospital  
  
Buffy nodded to her and smiled, "Yeah. I think I've got everything..." She grabbed a vase of Roses off the bedside table. She smiled and smelt them one last time before leaving the room for good.  
  
Angel had given her those roses, the night she awoke. The doctors wouldn't dare let her leave right away. Tests. Tests. Test. Buffy swore if she saw another needle she would scream. But finally it was all over, back to the way things were supposted to be.  
  
She walked down the hallway with her mom when the doctor stopped her in the middle of the hall. "Miss Summers?"  
  
"Yes?" Buffy turned around to face him.  
  
"This was dropped off for you..." He handed her a small envelope, "Probably another get well card I assume." He smiled.  
  
Buffy smiles and takes it from him, "Thank you, Dr. Anglemen."  
  
"No problem." He walks off and smiles.  
  
Buffy looks down at the envelope in her hands, "I'll look at it when we get home." She tosses it into the box Joyce was holding. "Docs probably right, just another card."  
  
Buffy walked into her room, setting the cardboard box down onto the bed. She walked over to the dresser and set the vase of roses down, and approached the box. She pulled the unopened envelope from the box and opened it slowly, sitting down on the bed. It read:   
  
"Buf-  
You hurt me just to save your man.  
Now you're back where you began.  
The time has come to get revenge,  
it is my death I will avenge.  
  
Better watch your back where you go,  
there is so much to me you owe!  
The time will come, and you will die.  
There's your chance to say goodbye...  
  
Use your time, and be wise.  
One wrong move and your lover dies"  
  
"She threatened your life!" Buffy stood before Angel in Library, obviously worried out of her mind. She waved the letter around like a lunatic, but she had a right to be upset. She looked up at him, "I don't want anything to happen to you..."  
  
"They won't hurt me, Buffy. They won't. They can't." He smiled down on her, moving a stray peice of hair from her eyes. "They took me away from you once... They wont get away with it again."  
  
She lowered the letter and smiled up at him, "I guess I'm getting a little crazy over this. It's just a letter, they can't do anything... I mean, I'm the slayer... I can fight back."  
  
"Yes... You can." He leans down and gives her a passionate kiss, the first kiss she had gotten from him since they were in hell.  
  
Buffy dropped the letter to the ground as she was lost in his kiss. She wrapped her arms around him tightly, kissing him back.  
  
"What's this?" Giles came into the library, and picked up the letter from the ground. Buffy and Angel quickly stopped kissing, thinking he was talking about the kiss.  
  
"Oh... I uhh.. I fell..." Buffy stumbled.  
  
Giles looked up at her and smiled slightly, "Yes, and he caught you, I take it. But that wasn't what I was talking about..." He holds up the letter, "What is this?"  
  
"I think it's from Faith." Buffy spoke up, looking toward Giles. She Bit down on her lower lip and glanced up at Angel, who was grinning.  
  
"Faith..."  
  
"You know, the other slayer, one you did the mojo on?"  
  
"Yes Buffy, I remember." He studdied the letter very closely and looked up, "You know what this means, don't you?"  
  
"Yes... I am officially on her hit-list. I get it. She won't hurt me... I won't let her."  
  
"Just remember, being sired by Spike, she's got a lot of strength in her."  
  
"Sired by Spike?!"  
  
"Yes..."  
  
"How could you let that happen?"  
  
"Spike would only give me the cure if we gave him Faith."  
  
"But, now that another slayer is killed... another will be called. Here we go again. I swear this town goes through way too many second slayers..."  
  
"Buffy, another slayer won't be called. That was part of the other trade."  
  
"The other trade?"  
  
"The trade with hell. In exchange for Angel, they took Faith's being."  
  
"Her being?"  
  
"What makes her a slayer..."  
  
"So they took away her mojo? Yikes."  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"Nevermind. So what do we do now?"  
  
"I say we track down Faith."  
  
"And do what?"  
  
"She's a vampire. You're a slayer. Slay her, Buffy."  
  
"Faith." A man stood in the doorway of the mansion, watching her closely. "I knew I'd find you..."  
  
"Kakistos."  
  
Spike stood behind Faith, an eyebrow raised, "Kaki? Bloody hell.. what now?"  
  
"I have no business with you, vampire." He looked to Spike, then to Faith. "I came here expecting a slayer. And what do I find? A vampire."  
  
"Yeah. Funny how the tables change, isn't it?"  
  
"I came here... to kill a slayer..."  
  
"You wanna bag a slayer?" Faith came closer to him, "I'll give you a slayer."  
  
"Are we ready?" Buffy looked toward Angel, with an unsure look on her face. She held a crossbow in her hands, standing before the mansion door. Angel stood behind her.  
  
"I think we're as ready as we're gunna be."  
  
They entered the mansion slowly, looking around. "Doesn't look like anyones home," She commented, looking toward Angel.  
  
"Well, well." Spike entered the room, looking toward the couple. "Hey Faith... We have some visitors."  
  
Faith entered the room slowly, head tilted downward. She glared at the two, "Well if it isn't two of the seven theives..." She sighed, "I knew you would come sooner or later."  
  
"We were expecting you." Kakistos said, from behind, Towering over the two visitors.  
  
Buffy spin around to face Kakistos, his arm reached out for her neck, picking her up. Instantly, she dropped the crossbow in her hands  
  
Angel growled and tried to attack back, but in one movement, Kakistos punched Angel, throwing him into a nearby wall. Kakistos laughed, focusing back on Buffy.  
  
Buffy squirmed in Kakistos arms, her breath becoming shorter. "Let... me... Go.."  
  
"Someone promised me I was going to kill a slayer. I'm not letting you go until you're dead."  
  
"Oh yes you are!" Angel stood across from Kakistos, the crossbow in his hands. "Let her go."  
  
"You fool. That won't kill me." Kakistos laughed, "That won't even prick."  
  
Buffy saw one last view of Kakistos, and she passed out in his arms. He grinned to himself and he let go of her, and she fell to the ground.  
  
Angel looked down at Buffy in horror, as Kakistos walked toward Faith and Spike. Angel ran to Buffy on the ground and held up her head, looking down at her. "No, Buffy. No!" Angel cried, holding onto Buffy's hand sadly, "You can't leave me, You can't Buffy. Not after what we've been through.. I can't live without you."  
  
"Live?" Spike scoffed from behind Angel, "As I remember, Angel, you haven't been alive for two hundred years, you bloody dolt!"  
  
Angel jumped up, glaring as Spike. "Shut up..." He growled.  
  
"Okay, Okay." Spike backed away slowly and looked toward Faith and Kakistos, "Let's leave these two alone..."  
  
As soon as the three left the room, Buffy sprung up from the ground and grinned at Angel, "Best performance yet, if I do say so myself."  
  
"Shhh..." Angel took her hand and lifted her up, "They might hear you. Let's get back to the Library..."  
  
"That badass vampire Spike was telling us about? Oh yeah, Badass indeed."  
  
"So it was pretty bad, huh?" Willow asked Buffy, the gang sitting around the table in the library.  
  
Buffy nodded, "That guy made the judge look like Barney... well... besides all that flamey poof stuff the judge could do."  
  
"Bigger than the judge?" Xander sighs, "Is that humanly possible?"  
  
"He's not human." Angel spoke, "He's a vampire. Atleast a thousand years old by the looks of him."  
  
"How could you tell?" Giles asked, from the door of his office.  
  
"Cloven hands, I've never seen a vampire old enough to have those."  
  
"So he's sort of turning into a giant pig?" Cordelia spoke up.  
  
Everyone glanced at Cordelia, giving them their own weird, 'Please shut up' look.  
  
"Sheesh, sorry."  
  
"You said his name was Seris?"  
  
"Yeah... I think."  
  
Giles picked up a book from the table, "I've been researching him since Spike told us about him. He's not as old as you think, Angel. It says here he's even younger than you..."  
  
"That's not possible, is it?" Buffy asked, "I mean, a vampire younger than Angel and he looks like that?"  
  
"A giant pig." Cordelia sighed.  
  
Buffy let out a big sigh, not responding to Cordelia's comment. "That couldn't have been Seris then?"  
  
Giles handed the book to Buffy, showing her the picture. "This... is Seris."  
  
"Creepy looking thing isn't he?" Buffy sighed, "So this is the bad vampire Spike was talking about? He doesn't look so bad."  
  
"There is absolutely nothing written on him in all the books he's in. Only that he was born in London around the early 1890, so which would make him what..."  
  
"Around a hundred and ten. About." Angel sighed, "We have nothing to worry about. Seris isn't our problem anymore."  
  
"Oh then who is?"  
  
"I guess we'll have to find out, wont we?"  
  
"They tricked me..." Kakistos looked around the empty mansion, growling. "They tricked me."  
  
"Yes, they tricked you. We get it." Spike sighed, "You know, maybe Angel just carried the body back to her friends..."  
  
"No... They're too smart for that." Faith sighs, "You don't get it do you? Spike, you've been watching Buffy for a while now, and you still don't understand her."  
  
"Love, you've only been here a week, and you think you do?"  
  
"I know more than you think, Spikey."  
  
"Don't call me that!"  
  
Faith scoffs and walks over to him, sitting down on his lap. She wraps her legs around his waist and looks deeply into his eyes, "But you told me last night you loved when I called you that..."  
  
Spike growled, "Not when we have company."  
  
Faith wrapped her arms around Spike, and teasingly nibbled his neck, "Oh... Not when we have company..." She whispers, "Spikey."  
  
Spike got up angrily, knocking Faith to the ground, "I said, stop it!"  
  
Faith pouted from the floor, "But baby..."  
  
"Bloody hell, shut your hole."  
  
Faith let out a big sigh and stood, dusting off her pants from the dirt, "Now look what you did..."  
  
"Oh quiet... Go get some new ones then."  
  
"Alright... I will." She turned around and went out the door.  
  
Spike mumbled under his breath, "I'm gunna end up killing her..."  
  
The Bronze was quiet, except for the sound of music playing fromt he stage. There they were. Dingoes Ate My Baby, on stage. It was the first time they had played at the Bronze, which was really cool for Oz and the Band. Willow sat at a table in the front, watching him closely. She smiled up at him and waved, "Ah, my boyfriends in the band..." She giggled to herself.  
  
Buffy and Angel stood, center of the floor in front of the stage, their arms wrapped around each other. Buffy had her head rested on Angel's chest, they swayed slowly to the soft music playing. Angel leaned down and ran his fingers through Buffy's hair, giving her a sort of comfort. She looked up at him and smiled, then continued to dance with her in his arms.  
  
"You think Giles would mind..."  
  
"Mind what?" Buffy whispered.  
  
"That we came here..."  
  
"Instead of saving the world?" Buffy smiled up at Angel, "I think we deserve this, don't you?" We've been working constantly since you... we... came back. And I think its about time we get time to ourselves."  
  
"Just hope we're not interupted."  
  
"Hey Buffy!" Xander smiled at the two of them, mainly at Buffy. He was still tense when it came to Angel."  
  
"You were saying?" Buffy smiled at Xander, "Hey Xander."  
  
"We sort of have a problem." Xander sighed and handed an envelope to Buffy, "I found this at the library."  
  
Buffy sighed, "Probably another letter from, Faith."  
  
"Is this how you found it?" Buffy raised an eyebrow, looking at Xander. "It's all... burnt."  
  
"Exactly how I found it. I tried to make out the part missing, but I couldn't get it."  
  
"Hmm..." Buffy sat down at a nearby table, placing the peice of paper down. "You got away once, you--" She stopped, "You won't again?" She sighs, "Yeah. Listen up, it's time to..... brain."  
  
"It's time to brain?" Xander asked, a funny look on his face."  
  
"It's time to... time to... Ugh!" Buffy grumbled, "She got a little too fire happy."  
  
"Listen up, it's time to... Use your brain?" Angel suggested, looking over the paper.  
  
"Yes! That's it!" Buffy smiles and turns back to the paper, "Meet me where the..."  
  
"Losers?"  
  
"Meet me where the losers wed?" Buffy sighs, "No, Xander."  
  
"Lovers." Angel smiled to her.  
  
"Meet me where the lovers wed, If you don't you will be dead. Before the dawn, me-- meet me there, You'll be all alone if you care. If you're not, I'll kill your friends. So meet me now, and make amends."  
  
"Make amends? Why would I need to make amends with her?"  
  
"She probably blames you for what we did to bring Angel back..."  
  
Buffy sighs, "And for the way she is now... vampire, not a slayer." She stands up from the table, sticking the note into her pocket. "There are a bunch of churches all over Sunnydale..." She looks at her watch, "I have until dawn to find the right one... I'll keep you all posted."  
  
"Buffy, you can't go alone. She probably has that other vampire with her."  
  
"You read the letter, too. She said alone. I don't want to put any of you in danger."  
  
"Now where have we had this conversation before?" Xander asked, looking toward Buffy then to Angel. "Last time we fell for the whole 'come alone' trick, we were hurt."  
  
Buffy turns to Angel, "Stay here, watch them?"  
  
Angel nods, "Sure. Anything."  
  
"Buffy, I don't need a babysitter."  
  
"Xander, shut up, and stay here with Angel. Just until I come back!"  
  
"Fine! But I'm not playing any games with him."  
  
Buffy starts to walk toward the exit, then walks back over to Angel, giving him a kiss. "I'll be back soon."  
  
"Alright."  
  
Xander sighs and sits down at the table.  
  
"So it's just you and me." Angel turns to Xander, sitting down across from him.  
  
"Yay?"  
  
"Faith?" Buffy walked through the enterance to the church, looking around. She sighed, it was now around midnight, and this was atleast the eleventh church she had checked that hour. "Faith? Are you here?"  
  
"I was beginning to think you whouldn't show up, B." Faith appeared, sitting on a pew in the middle of the church. She stood and looked toward Buffy, "Pretty place isn't it?"  
  
"I thought vampires were supposted to be scared of churches?"  
  
"Scared? Why would they be scared? I've got nothing to fear here."  
  
"You do now."  
  
"Oh right, you. Yeah, I'm real scared of you, B. Real scared."  
  
"You should be." Buffy raised her arm, revealing a crossbow. She aimed it toward Faith, with a small smile on her face.  
  
Faith stood, staring directly at Buffy. She opened her arms wide, "Shoot me. Com'on, B. Shoot me."  
  
Buffy pulled back the arrow on the crossbow, but before she could shoot, Kakistos came and grabbed her from behind, tossing her into the nearby wall. Buffy passed out on the floor, and Faith smiled.  
  
"Let the games begin."  
  
Buffy awoke to find herself chained to a chair in the mansion. She glanced around, noticing Spike and Kakistos before her. But where was Faith? She tried to break free from the chains, but it was useless. She couldn't even speak. Her mouth was gagged.  
  
Faith entered the room, holding a knife in her hands. She looked toward the two other vampires before her and nodded to them, "Spike, you know what to do. Just read from the book. Kakistos... Bear witness." She knelt in front of Buffy, smiling slightly, "This ought to be fun, huh B?" She grabbed Buffy's left hand, setting it free from the chains.  
  
Buffy tried to reach for the knife, but Faith pulled her hand back, slapping Buffy across the face, "Listen here, you try anything, and I'll just kill you."  
  
Buffy relaxed and sighed, letting Faith get on with it, whatever she was doing.  
  
Faith made Buffy open up her hand, and she cut her palm, from thumb to pinky. Buffy screamed out in pain, but her voice was muffled. Faith did the same to her right hand. And she glance to Spike, giving him the sign to begin the reading.  
  
"One doesn't know how it feels, while the other is dead for eternity. It's time to make the slayer see, how much more worse her life could be. So take her being, and give her Faith's, make the switch, give her the first taste."  
  
Faith then locked hands with Buffy, looking deeply in her eyes, "See you when you wake up, B." Both girls scream out in pain as the spell begins to take effect. Spike finishes the spell, and both girls lay, passed out. Buffy, in her chair, and Faith, on the floor.  
  
Buffy awoke a few hours later, to find herself asleep on the cold marble floor. She was no longer tied up. She stood up quickly, glancing around the room. She was free. And the door was wide open for her. She glanced down at her hand and stumbled out the door as quickly as she could, hoping not to be caught. She ran, for what it seemed like hours, but it were only minutes by the time Buffy got to the Bronze. She ran inside quickly, almost knocking over the table when she stopped to talk to the gang.  
  
Willow, Xander, Oz and Angel sat at the table, waiting patiently when she came running in. "Buffy!" Willow smiled, "How did it go?"  
  
"I.. I don't know... They did something to me. I don't... I don't know."  
  
Willow glanced over Buffy's shoulder to the wall, where a mirror stood. Her eyes went wide. "Guys!" She pointed to the mirror, "Look!"  
  
The gang all turned around and looked at the mirror, noticing Buffy wasn't in the reflection. They all turned to Buffy, wide-eyed.  
  
"Buffy... You're a vampire." 


	5. Chapter Five

Buffy stood before the gang in the Bronze, her hands touching her face slowly. "I can't... I can't be a vampire..."  
  
Angel stood from the table, slowly approaching Buffy. He put his hands on her shoulder and slowly turned her around to face the mirror, "Welcome to my world."  
  
Buffy turned around to face him, "But I don't want..."  
  
"No one ever wants this to happen to them, Buffy." He touched her cheek, "We have to find out what to..."  
  
"Don't touch me!" Buffy backed away from him slowly, "Leave me alone. All of you! Just leave me alone." Buffy grabbed her coat off of the stool around the table and ran out of the Bronze.  
  
Angel turned back to the group, with no attempts to run after Buffy, "We need to find out what happened to her. She's a vampire... but it's still Buffy... the demon didn't take her soul."  
  
"At least not yet." Faith stood behind the group, smiling. "Oh believe me, your Buffy will be gone within days... if not hours."  
  
"Faith." Angel turned around and growled, "What did you do to her?"  
  
"Ohh... Nothing." She grinned at the group, and then takes a deep breath, showing off the human side of her. "Ah, I just love the fresh air..."  
  
"You're..."   
  
"Human, babe." Faith smiled, "100% Human... and slayer."  
  
"You switched... But... how?"   
  
"Now why would I do that? Tell you how? You should know not to ask the magician her secrets... Tsk, tsk."  
  
"So it was a spell?"  
  
"Angel, give it up. I'm not telling you anything. So why don't you and the rest of the gang get on your way and research. That is, after all, what you guys do best."  
  
Angel approached Faith slowly, glaring directly into her eyes, "Once she's cured, I'm going to kill you."  
  
"I can't wait."  
  
*  
  
"So she ran off, and you didn't run after her?!" Giles stood before the group in the library, angry. "You should have followed her, Angel."  
  
"She'll be fine. Buffy can take care of herself."  
  
"Besides," Xander spoke up, "She's Buffy. The Slayer. Any slayer that has turned has to be very strong, right?"  
  
"Not if Faith did switch." Giles looked to Xander, "She's not a slayer any more."  
  
"So what do we do?" Willow looked around at the group, "I mean... there has to be a way to get her back. Faith did the switch with a spell... there has to be a..."  
  
"Why not just use the same spell and just switch them back?" Cordelia sighed, from the table away from the group.  
  
The whole group turned around and looked at Cordelia, a look of proudness and interest on their face.  
  
Cordelia notices their looks, "What? OKay fine, it's a stup--"  
  
"No, Cordelia. It's brilliant." Giles ran into his office, rumaging through books.  
  
"And for once she's the smart one." Xander grinned at Cordelia.  
  
"Oh shut up, Xander."  
  
"Okay."  
  
*   
  
Buffy sat crouched in a corner of her room, shaking. She looked at her hands as her whole body seemed to change before her. She had no idea what was going on, and she was scared. She had never been so scared in her life.  
  
Angel entered the room slowly, Joyce behind him.   
  
"She's over there..." Joyce whispered, scared. "She hasn't talked, she won't talk to me. She just sits there... Shaking."  
  
"Joyce," Angel said calmly, "Call Giles, please?"  
  
She nodded, running out of the room.  
  
"Buffy?" Angel approached her slowly, kneeling down before her. "Buffy? Are you okay?"   
  
Buffy looked up at him, head cocked to the side slightly. Her eyes stared at him, without a blink. She was glaring at him.  
  
"Buffy? What's wrong? Tell me Buffy, Com'on..."   
  
Buffy stood up slowly, still looking at Angel in that same way. "I'm not Buffy, anymore." She said, plainly. "Your girlfriend is dead, Angel."  
  
Angel backed away from her, not sure how she would act. "She is?"  
  
"I killed her, slowly, but I did. She's gone, Angel. Accept it."  
  
"I'm gunna get a cure for you, Buffy. We'll get you out of this."  
  
"No!" Buffy screamed, "No cure. I like this... I'm more powerful... stronger than ever."   
  
"Buffy..." Angel approached her slowly, "You're in there somewhere... I know you are... Bufy... Come on.. Buffy..."  
  
Buffy looked at him a minute, the glare slowly fading away into a look of innocence, "Angel..." She reached out to him, "I don't know how much longer I can hold on..." She began to cry, and looked down at the ground, "It's... taking over me..."  
  
"Shhh.. Buffy... it's okay... just hold on... hold on. We can't lose you yet." He wrapped his arms around her.  
  
Buffy cried out in pain, as she sunk to the floor, "I can't... I can't... I can't... I.." She went silent, curled up on the floor, and then with one terrifying scream...  
  
She awoke from her dream.   
  
*  
  
The Bronze was quiet, except for the sound of music playing fromt he stage. There they were. Dingoes Ate My Baby, on stage. It was the first time they had played at the Bronze, which was really cool for Oz and the Band. Willow sat at a table in the front, watching him closely. She smiled up at him and waved, "Ah, my boyfriends in the band..." She giggled to herself. Buffy and Angel stood, center of the floor in front of the stage, their arms wrapped around each other. Buffy had her head rested on Angel's chest, they swayed slowly to the soft music playing. Angel leaned down and ran his fingers through Buffy's hair, giving her a sort of comfort. She looked up at him and smiled, then continued to dance with her in his arms.   
  
"You think Giles would mind..."  
  
Buffy looked up at Angel, quickly, not saying a word. "Oh my god..."  
  
"He would mind, wouldn't he?" Angel sighed, "I know, we should be out there..."  
  
"No.. it's not that... It's just I..."  
  
"Hey Buffy!" Xander ran up to Buffy, a small smile on his face.  
  
"Great..." Buffy turned to Xander and sighed,  
  
"Gimme the note... Com'on..."  
  
"But..." He held the note out to her, "How did you know?"  
  
Buffy set the note down on the table, "I'll explain later... I've got to get to that church." She ran out the door, as quickly as she could.   
  
"But Buffy..." Xander yelled, "You didn't even look at the note!"  
  
*  
  
Buffy ran to the library, as quickly as she could. She ran inside, pulled out a machete from inside Giles' weapon cabinet, and left as quickly as she had come in. She stuck a few stakes in her pocket, and ran off to the church, as quickly as she could.   
  
She was atleast three hours earlier than she had been in her dream. She decided to wait, until the timing was exactly as it had been in the dream. The timing could make a difference, she knew what was going to happen.  
  
She stood outside for a few hours, passing the time, and by the time it was midnight, she slowly entered the church, looking around, not saying a word. She stood at the entrance for a minute, the walked forward, trying to remember her dream as much as possible, "Faith?" She called out, like she had done in the dream.  
  
And there was Faith, sitting at the front pew. She turned around and smiled at Buffy, "B... I was beginning to think you wouldnt't going to show up."   
  
She smiled, "Pretty place, isn't it?"  
  
Buffy tried to remember what she had said in the dream, then spoke, "I thought vampires were supposted to be scared of churches?"  
  
"Scared? Why would they be scared? I've got nothing to fear here."  
  
"You do now."  
  
"Oh, right, you. Yeah, I'm real scared of you, B. Real scared."  
  
"You should be." Buffy raised her arm, machete in her hands. She held it up toward Faith, a smile on her face.  
  
Faith stood, staring directly at Buffy. She opened her arms wide, "Kill me. Com'on, B. Kill me."   
  
Buffy raised the machete higher, then jumped up, twirled the machete around in the air, beheading Kakistos, who was behind her. She landed, both feet on the ground. She lowered the machete, and stared at Faith, head cocked to the side. She smiled, "Nice try..."  
  
"But how did you... No!"  
  
"I guess I'm just too good for you, Faith." Buffy smiled. "You're alone now, your plan... to switch our beings? Isn't gunna work..."  
  
"But how did you know?" Faith thought for a minute, then grumbled, "Spike..."  
  
Buffy smiled, deciding to play along, "Yeah... well... We made a deal... He tell me what you were planning... and I get rid of you."  
  
"You're not gunna touch me, B." She walked out the back of the church, "I won't let you."  
  
Buffy smiled to herself, and walked out the other way, toward the front entrance.  
  
*  
  
"Spike..." Faith called, in the mansion, "Spike, where are you?"  
  
Spike appeared in the doorway, "What is it, love? I thought you were supposted to bring someone back with you... and where is cloven-guy?"  
  
Faith sighed, glaring at him, "I would have... if you hadn't ruined it."  
  
"Ruined it?" Spike laughed slightly, "I've been here this whole time, don't blame your mistakes and mishaps on me, pet."  
  
"Don't talk to me... you traitor."  
  
"Traitor?" Spike scoffed, "Lets talk about being a traitor. "You went to Seris... behind my back. Now that's being a traitor."  
  
"Seris? What the hell does he have to do with anything? I was human when I went to him..."   
  
"I don't care. You still did it, Faith. You disapointed me..."  
  
"Oh what are you gunna do, Spike? Punish me..."  
  
"No... I won't..." Spike sighed.  
  
"I didn't think so... You can't kill me. You won't."  
  
"He won't kill you," A voice said, behind Faith. "But I will."  
  
Before Faith could turn around, she was dust. As the dust fell to the ground, Drusilla stood, holding a stake in her hand. She looked over at Spike, "Nobody betrays my Spike..." 


End file.
